Lucky koala Sir Chompsalot gets kiss of life
幸運無尾熊「大口吃爵士」被口對口人工呼吸急救

A female koala rides on her mother’s back in St Aignan, France on July 19.一隻母無尾熊七月十九日在法國聖艾尼昂騎在母親的背上。

Photo: AFP照片：法新社

A lucky koala was recovering on Friday last week after being caught by firefighters when it fell unconscious from a tree before being given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Emergency crews were called to the Melbourne suburb of Langwarrin on Thursday last week after reports that an injured animal was lying on the road after being hit by a car.

When officials arrived, they found the furry native marsupial had climbed a tree for shelter and firefighters were brought in to bring it down.

“We believed it had died in the tree, just when we were trying to rescue it,” Langwarrin Country Fire Authority’s Sean Curtin said. “Then it fell out of the tree and the members caught it in a blanket.”

A wildlife officer on the scene then performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, while another rescuer pumped its chest to revive its heart. “We put it on O2 oxygen therapy to assist in getting some oxygen into the blood flow of the koala,” Curtin added.

The koala — nicknamed Sir Chompsalot by the firefighters — was taken to the Animalia Wildlife Shelter where he was “well and eating” on Friday last week.

Wildlife Victoria said it received more than 50,000 emergency calls over the past year involving native animals, with 1,600 concerning koalas. The most common reason was car accidents, followed by dog attacks.